Ben & Cosmo Campbell: The Way of the Road
Brothers Ben and Cosmo Campbell took Canon XH A1 and HV20 camcorders to Nepal to film a documentary that examines how a new road on the Bhote Kosi valley will change the landscape and the local culture forever. Ben Campbell, an anthropologist at Durham University, has lived in Nepal for several years and speaks the language. Cosmo Campbell has worked with many top companies on commercials, documentaries and TV programmes and is now a freelance cameraman and director based in Barcelona. They talked to George Cole about the making of the film 'The Way of the Road'.
How did the film come about?
Ben Campbell (BC): The film is about a road that will be built in the next few years, due to be completed in 2012. It will connect a town in Kathmandu called Trisuli to a town in southern Tibet called Keirong - an ancient Tibetan town where the ancient kings of Tibet used to be buried. When the road is complete it should take about six hours to go from Kathmandu to the border. It's part of a set of roads into the mountains that are funded by the South Asian Development Bank and are designed to help the conditions of the poor. The existing road is an old dirt road and has already had quite an impact on the valley. Within a few years, the village had re-located its houses to be close to the road. With our film, we were able to capture the people's understanding of how they will connect when the road is built.
Click here to watch edited highlights of Ben and Cosmo Campbell's film 'The Way of the Road'.
How did it come to get produced?
BC: I'd already made a film on my previous visit about a pilgrimage and the villagers had seen it and liked it. A villager called Lama Karpu said that I must come back and make another film. He invited me back and talked about doing a special village event 'The Dance of the Kings', which I'd heard about but never seen. The armies of Nepal and China have been in conflict and the dance is based on that. I thought we could capture this event before the road arrives and changes everything forever. That village drama is not going to be the same once the road is completed, so we're making a unique cultural archive. So that was the initial inspiration, but I needed to set it in the context of the road to attract funding... so I focused on the road and change, and we got a grant from the Williamson Fund for Himalayan Research.
How long did you spend filming?
BC: It was barely two weeks. So we don't have a lot of filming of officials talking about the road and putting things in context. But we were very lucky. I was riding in a taxi in Kathmandu and I saw this figure standing head and shoulders above the crowd and I instantly recognised the person – it was my old professor, Piers Blaikie! He's famous for his work in Nepal and the impact of the roads built in the 1970s. We were so lucky to meet him and were able to include a contribution from him.
Ben Campbell using the HV20.
You used two Canon camcorders...
BC: I was using the HV20 and Cosmo had the XH A1. Cosmo has spliced together bits from the two cameras, for example, where from a different vantage point, I've been able to capture things that he wasn't aware of. We knew from last time that, at these big public events (like The Dance of the Kings), you do want to have two cameras.
What was it like using the XH A1?
Cosmo Campbell (CC): My background is as a film cameraman using 35mm, although I dabble in high definition broadcast video formats like Digibeta (Digital Betacam). What I liked about the XH A1 was that it was straightforward to use, and for most of the time, I could leave it on the basic presets and still get great results. The colour rendition was fantastic - somehow Canon seems to have got this right. I also liked the iris control being on the lens barrel, because that made handling much easier.
What about colour temperature?
CC: I doing a lot of shooting in mixed light, and if conditions changed, I could easily switch between tungsten and daylight. I didn't have to add filters or adjust the white balance to get a good image. That makes life a lot easier when you're shooting on location. If you can focus on the job and not have to worry about the equipment, then that's a bonus for any cameraman.
Cameraman Cosmo Campbell.
How was the focusing operation?
CC: I thought it was neat in that you could change the sensitivity of the focus ring, and so you had more control over focusing. Sometimes you want the change the focus quickly, while other times, you want to be able to do it slowly and with greater control. In fact, I liked the XH A1 camcorder's control layout and the fact that most of the controls are on the camcorder body - it's very easy to flick a switch to make an adjustment.
The Bhote Kosi valley through which the new road will be built.
What format did you shoot in?
CC: I shot in HDV 50i and the images look really good. The camera just kept on going - sometimes we'd film continuously for five hours or more, although that meant going through a couple of batteries!
You did a lot of travelling in steep terrain, how did you carry your equipment?
CC: The XH A1 handled great. I had a Lowepro rucksack into which went the camcorder, cables, batteries, tapes – everything fitted in. My equipment suffered a bit of rough treatment but the XH A1 handled perfectly fine.
You normally work with 35mm film cameras so what's your verdict on the Canon XH A1?
CC: We're really pleased with the results we got and it's a very reliable camcorder. I think it's a great camera.
How was the film directed?
BC: When we were following a story where I spoke the language, I would tell Cosmo where to move, but he often sees things that I can't see that will look great on camera. We kind of have an intuitive mix. In the final editing, I've got my points to make and he's got a fantastic feel for what images should flow next to each other. I'm always going to look at what Cosmo suggests about putting two sequences together.
What were the biggest challenges when filming?
BC: Charging the batteries, as power supplies are intermittent at best in the villages. Cosmo brought along a solar powered charger, which we used with the 12-volt batteries and that worked well. Another challenge was the hailstones! Cosmo had a windshield over the microphone, but even with that, golf ball-sized hailstones are quite difficult to deal with! But we had no breakdowns; the cameras ran smoothly and I can't recall any hiccups.
The village built around the old road.
Are you happy with the results?
BC: We shot around 40 hours of footage and it's really hard deciding what to leave out in the editing!
You showed a first cut last summer at The Manchester Nepal Himalayan Festival...
BC: That was the first airing of the first cut. I've been involved in a couple of times with the Manchester Nepal Himalayan Festival, and it was great place to show the film. We got some very nice feedback from the people who saw it.
What are your plans for the film?
BC: The film is being shown to the academic community at Oxford, Cambridge, the School of Oriental and African studies in London and Edinburgh. The film is about the road, change, the edges of China and the fact it will bring India and China within six hours of each other by road. We think there will be good potential for reaching out to people who are interested in reaching out to Asia. We are also exploring the possibilities of getting it broadcast on television.
What was the impact of making the film?
BC: Seeing the quality of the images we got in a two-week stay makes me think I've got to try and continue the project and document this unique, fascinating culture before it changes forever. It's definitely inspired me to do more. The more I see the images, the more I want to do more filming.
Locals get to grips with the Canon XH A1.
How did the people react to be filmed?
BC: We've got so many occasions when the cameras are being used in playback, because people wanted to see what we had filmed. It's interesting in that they are aware of filmed images and they want to see their own culture on the screen. They want to engage in the technology and film their own culture.
What were the highlights for you?
BC: In one village, they go to the temple and the Shaman and the Lamas are together. They wanted their culture on film and so they put it on especially for us. In Bharku, where they did Dance of the Kings, you had a feeling of people telling their own history. The third highlight was going onto a stretch where there is no road yet and which goes up to the border. This used to be a restricted area. There are huge stone 'Mane', or prayer walls, there and they show that this was an important area for trade. It was great to see these walls - that was a huge excitement.
Who do you see as the audience for the film?
BC: Obviously people in my field (anthropology), but it will have a broader context and will appeal to many others. All the people in Nepal are interested in having their culture and history recorded and they will receive a copy of the film. The footage could also be useful for the future scientific community, because people will be able to use our footage to see the effects of the road. I do foresee lots of usage both in scientific and educational fields; this HD material is going to be amazing for teaching purposes.
